Primark poised …
Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF), the conglomerate which owns high street discount clothing retailer Primark as well as food products such as Twining’s tea and Silver Spoon sugar is expected to deliver strong first-half growth on Wednesday.
In a pre-close update at the end of February, ABF said all its divisions had made ‘excellent progress’ and reiterated its full-year guidance for underlying earnings (EBITDA) although a positive currency boost for overseas profits in the first-half, will be reduced in the second-half.
In a preview, analysts at HSBC said that, assuming the first half accounts for around 80% of the uplift in full year profits, it expects ABF to report EBITDA of about £620mln, pre-tax profit of £600mln, and earnings per share of 58.4p, which would be growth of 28%.
They expect Primark to deliver first-half sales growth of 11% on a constant currency basis and 21% on a reported basis, with positive forex factors benefitting the around 50% of sales generated outside the UK.
Burberry boosted …
Meanwhile, at the other end of the market, luxury goods firm Burberry Group PLC (LON:BRBY) should report improving second-half sales growth on Wednesday, according to Deutsche Bank.
In a preview, its analysts forecast that the FTSE 100-listed group should reveal comparable store retail sales growth of 6%.
They pointed out: “Industry data has been improving since the middle of 2016, driven by improving trends in Greater China and more modest improvements in Europe."
The analysts noted that the strong sales performance, announced on April 11, by market leader LVMH of France increases the upside risk for Burberry's sales.
Unilever uneventful …
First-quarter results from Unilever, due on Thursday, have been rather overtaken by events following the consumer giant’s revelation last week that it is planning to sell or demerge its Spreads business, which includes Flora and Stork margarines.
The Anglo-Dutch firm revealed the plan in the results of a strategic review to improve shareholder value, which it launched at the end of February after the shock of a failed bid move for the group by US food giant Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC).
Unilever also said it is targeting a 20% underlying operating margin, before restructuring, by 2020, establishing a net debt/EBITDA target of 2x, launching a share buy-back of €5bn and will raise dividends by 12% in the coming year.
In the face of all this, Goldman Sachs expects Unilever’s first-quarter to show organic sales growth of 2.3% and reported sales of €13.15bn, with the group targeting 3%-5% full-year underlying sales growth.
Reckitt on back foot…
It will be a chastened Rakesh Kapoor who delivers Reckitt Benckiser’s (LON:RB.) first quarter numbers on Friday.
The Cillit Bang maker’s chief executive had his salary chopped by over a third in 2016 due to a scandal in South Korea that saw over 100 people die from a toxic humidifier sanitiser.
But that isn’t his only concern. Sales generally have been below par and its recent acquisition Mead Johnson has added to the market’s unease due to its hefty price tag. Mead will report standalone results this time around
According to Berenberg, the market haas already priced in that RB will start 2017 slowly.
“Reckitt is still suffering from loss of sales in South Korea and the failed Scholl innovation “
But Berenberg remains a fan and sees a return to 5% top-line growth later in the year to make 4% for the year overall.
Sky contrite …
Back in January, one analyst described Sky’s interim results as “satisfactory rather than particularly inspiring” and this could well be the theme for Thursday’s third quarter update.
Anything more rousing might lead to shareholders questioning whether the recently-approved £11.7bn takeover from 21st Century Fox is good value.
Given the trouble Sky and Fox have had and are still having getting the deal passed UK regulators, it also wouldn’t be surprising to hear Sky talk a lot about its rivals in the update.
Competition is always a concern for investors, especially given the recent rise of BT Group PLC (LON:BT.A), Netflix Inc (NYSE:NFLX) and the like.
Speaking of BT, Sky lost out (again) to the telecoms giant in the latest round of bidding for Champions League football rights, while there are also rumours that it could lose its Scottish football rights.
An update on how Sky’s new mobile offering is coming along will be closely followed, too. Analysts were initially unconvinced so it will be interesting to see what consumers have made of it so far.
As usual, customer figures and churn rates –the number of subscribers who leave the service – will also come under scrutiny.
Monday 17 April
Easter Bank holiday - UK markets closed
Tuesday 18 April
Trading Statement
Ashmore group PLC (LON:ASHM)
AGM/EGM
Apax Global Alpha Ltd (LON:APAX)
Wednesday 19 April
Interims
Fenner PLC (LON:FENR): Associated British Foods plc (LON:ABF)
Final Result
e-Therapeutics PLC (LON:ETX)
AGM/EGM
Greggs plc (LON:GRG); Bunzl PLC (LON:BNZL)
Trading Statement
RELX Plc (LON:REL); Rio Tinto PLC (LON:RIO); Rentokil Initial PLC (LON:RTO); Segro (LON:SGRO);Bunzl PLC (LON:BNZL);Henderson Group PLC (LON:HGG); Burberry Group PLC (LON:BRBY)
Thursday 20 April
Interim Result
Unilever PLC (LON:ULVR);Torchmark Corporation (LON:TMK); Sky PLC (LON:SKY); Debenhams PLC (LON:DEB)
Final Result
Xeros Technology Group Plc (LON:XSG); Randall & Quilter Investment Holdings PLC (LON:RQIH); Electrical Geodesics (LON:EGI)
AGM / EGM
Akers Biosciences (LON;AKR); Redx Pharma Plc Ord (LON:REDX); Acacia Mining Plc (LON:ACA); Essentra (LON:ESNT)
Trading statement
Acacia Mining (LON:ACA); Computacenter (LON:CCC); Man Group PLC (LON:EMG)
Evraz plc (LON:EVR); Go-Ahead Group (The) PLC (LON:GOG); Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC (LON:MONY)
Ex-dividend
SCS Group Plc (LON:SCS); Zotefoams PLC (LON:ZTF); RPS Group PLC (LON:RPS);
Vitec Group (The) PLC (LON:VTC); Stilo International Plc (LON:STL);
Taptica International Ltd (LON:TAP); Tyman (LON:TYMN); Property Franchise Group Plc The Ord 1p (LON:TPFG); Smurfit Kappa Group PLC (LON:SKG)
Unite Group PLC (LON:UTG); INVESCO Perpetual Enhanced Inc Ltd (LON:IPE);
Drax Group PLC (LON:DRX); Capital & Counties Properties PLC (LON:CAPC)
Man Group PLC (LON:EMG); Equiniti Group Plc (LON:EQN); Henderson Diversified Income Ltd (HDIV); Fevertree Drinks Plc (LON:FEVR); 20/04/2017 Bodycote PLC (LON:BOY); BAE Systems Plc (LON:BA.); Aggreko PLC (LON:AGK); Balfour Beatty plc (LON:BBY); Barratt Developments PLC (LON:BDEV);
Bankers' Investment Trust Plc (the) (LON:BNKR); Hochschild Mining PLC (LON:HOC); Hansteen Holdings plc (LON:HSTN); Merchants Trust plc (the) (LON:MRCH); MP Evans Group PLC (LON:MPE); Novae Group PLC (LON:NVA);
Pendragon PLC (LON:PDG); Petrofac Ltd (LON:PFC); Mondi Plc (LON:MNDI); Marshall Motor Holdings PLC (LON:MMH); IndigoVision Group plc (LON:IND);
Hansteen Holdings plc (LON:HSTN); International Public Partnership Ltd (LON:INPP); Intu Properties (LON:INTU); John Laing Group PLC (LON:JLG)
Rathbone Brothers PLC (LON:RAT)
Friday 21 April
Trading statement